We all know how hard it is to be an 18-year-old in today’s world. You have the pressures from your peers and your parents. The last twelve years of your life have been planning and preparing for the rest of your life.
You hang out with your friends after school in clubs, sports, or just sitting at home playing X-box. We all try to take into account the fact that even with our best abilities there are still some kids that get lost. Nobody means to forget these unfortunate kids, but it happens. Now on the other hand there are kids like me that try to be forgotten.
These forgotten kids try to blend in where and when they can, but it’s hard when they have been outcast because of race, religion, or looks. Our society tries to tell itself that the problem is being fixed; yet it still manifests itself.
The kids that try to be forgotten do so because they don’t like to be put into the spotlight and given great recognition. They just want to belong to a group and fit in with the "normal" crowd. The more we try to help them the more secluded they become.
It seems that society today tells young people that they need to have a boyfriend or girlfriend. In it great wisdom society seems to forget that us outsiders also have "crushes" or "childhood loves." We hide these feelings in the fear that it will bring unwanted attention and force us to crawl even deeper into our little holes of the world.
I have lived my entire life this way and with these same feelings. I know that I’m capable of greater things, but I just try to skim by with a C average. I have no what to be a 4.0 student or the star quarterback on the football team; all I’ve ever wanted to do was to fit in.
I know there are many kids from the " popular groups" that try to make me feel welcome, yet I can’t help but feel left out. They say "Hi" to me in the halls or outside of school, but I have never woken up on a Saturday and had somebody call and ask if I would like to go to the movies or go to a concert.
I have spent many weekends at home listing to my theme song. In the song there is a child just like me who wants to fit in but can’t. The child talks about waiting for that call from his friends to hang out, but it never comes. We share the act of staring at the four walls of our rooms.
I have grow very accustom to my room walls. I see them as a barrier to the outside world that will protect me from it judgements. I have total control of what goes on inside them; just like my own kingdom. I’m not a control freak, but it is nice to know that I’m safe.
I don’t want to be president or the CEO of some fortune 500 company. Now if that’s your dream all the power to you. We each have our own goal and aspirations in life, even if we don’t realize them now.
My only dream in life is to find somebody that I can love, and to provide a good home to raise a family. Then when it comes time, send my kids off to college so that they too can enjoy the same "American Dream" as me.
I don’t hold any grudges against my friends and anybody that has tried to help me. I just want to be recognized for who I am and to be respected just like any other human being.